ENGLISH 211W

 

Prof. Baker

Office hrs: TR 8:30-9, 10:45-11:30; and by appt.

132 McIver, 334-5311

dnbaker@uncg.edu

 

Texts:

Norton Anthology of English Literature, 7th ed., vol. 1

Shakespeare, Othello (Pelican)

Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing (Pelican)

Hacker, A Pocket Style Manual, 3rd ed.

 

Attendance Policy:  You are expected to attend each class meeting.  If you miss three classes by March 6 without giving me a note from a professional (doctor, lawyer, etc.) verifying a serious illness or problem, YOU MAY BE DROPPED FROM THE COURSE.  You will only be allowed to make up missed exams or late papers if I have excused your absence beforehand.

 

Final Grade:

10 journal entries                                              10%

2 1-page papers                                               20%

Midterm exam                                                  20%

Essay (3-5 pages)                                             25%

Final exam                                                        25%

 

CLASS PARTICIPATION IS VERY IMPORTANT.  You should read the assignments carefully before class and be prepared to discuss them.  Mark significant passages in your text and jot down any questions you may have.  Try to make connections among the different assignments.  You can earn up to five extra points added to your final average for the quality and quantity of your class discussion.

 

This section of English 211 is writing intensive.  Besides the usual reading assignments in literature, you will be writing both to increase your understanding of the readings and to improve your ability to compose essays.  The journal entries are informal and designed to get you to think about your readings and to put your thoughts on paper with greater ease.  You will also compose two microthemes (each 1 typed page double spaced) and one longer essay (3-5 typed pages).  We will spend some time in class discussing writing and working on your papers.

Journal entries (1 handwritten page each): Each of the reading assignments on the syllabus is followed by a question or topic to which you can respond in writing in your journal.  You are required to do 10 journal entries over the course of the semester.  These entries should be done on loose-leaf paper and are due on day the assignment is discussed in class. Your second microtheme will be a revision of one of these entries. Keep your returned journal entries in a duotang folder; the folder will also be collected at the end of the semester so that I can assess your progress in writing.

 

If you are an English major, please subscribe to the English Department’s listserve to receive information about events and opportunities that will be of interest to you. Send an e-mail message to listproc@uncg.edu with this message: subscribe English-l yourfirstname yourlastname.  For example, subscribe English-l Geoffrey Chaucer (English is followed by the letter L, not the number one.)  Let me know if you have any difficulty subscribing to the listserve.

 

Jan.      16   "Medieval English," pp. 14-15; Chaucer, Canterbury Tales, General Prologue to line 271

                   Journal:  Translate lines 208-232 as literally as possible into good Modern English

21   Chaucer, General Prologue to end; Pocket Manual, pp. 106-108

       Discussion of assignment for first microtheme due Feb. 11:  Which of the Canterbury pilgrims should win the prize for telling the tale of “best sentence and most solas"? (1 typed page double-spaced)

       Journal: Which pilgrim do you like best and why?  Which do you like least and why?

            23   Chaucer, Miller's Prologue and Tale

       Journal: Is the Miller’s Tale pornographic?

           28    Chaucer, Wife of Bath's Prologue

       Journal: Do you like or dislike the Wife of Bath? Give evidence from the Prologue to support your assertions about her.

            30   Chaucer, Wife of Bath’s Tale

       Journal: Discuss the connections between the Wife’s Prologue and her Tale.

Feb.      4    Chaucer, Nun's Priest's Tale, Parson's Introduction, Chaucer's Retraction

       Journal: Discuss some of the ways Chaucer makes this tale funny.

             6    Selection from Book of Margery Kempe and Pocket Manual, pp. 2-19; bring two copies of first microtheme to class and Pocket Manual to class

11   "Figurative Language," pp. 2950-53; Spenser, Amoretti 1, 34, 64, 68, 75; first microtheme due

            13   Sidney, Astrophil and Stella, 1, 5, 6, 9, 10, 18, 21, 39, 52, 71

        Journal: Paraphrase (put in your own words) sonnet 9.

           18   Shakespeare sonnets 3, 12, 18, 20, 60, 65, 73, 116

       Journal: Analyze the figurative language of Shakespeare's sonnet 73

            20   Shakespeare 128, 129, 130, 138, 144, 146

       Journal: Compare and contrast the Dark Lady to the women presented in Sidney’s and Spenser’s sonnets.

            25   Wroth, Pamphilia to Amphilanthus 1, 16, 40, 68, 77 (pp. 1428-31)

       Journal: Does Wroth’s use of the Petrarchan conventions differ from those of the male poets we have studied?

            27   Shakespeare, Much Ado, Acts 1-2

       Journal: Compare and contrast the two couples?

March  4    Much Ado, Acts 3-5; choose journal to revise for microtheme 2 and write thesis.

 6    Midterm exam (bring blue book)

18   Shakespeare, Othello, Act 1-2

       Journal: Is the fact that Othello is a Moor from Africa important to the play?

            20   Othello, Acts 3-5

                   Journal: Why does Othello believe Iago’s accusations against Desdemona?

           25   John Donne poems:  The Flea, Song (Go catch), The Sun Rising, The Indifferent, The Canonization, A Valediction:  Forbidding Mourning

27   Donne, Holy Sonnet 14; A Hymn to Christ, at the Author's Last Going into Germany; A Hymn to God My God, in My Sickness; Pocket Manual, pp. 42-48, 57-68; bring two copies of microtheme 2 and Pocket Manual to class

                   Journal: Are there any similarities between Don’s secular and sacred poems?

Apr       1    Milton, Paradise Lost, Book 1 to line 375 and Book 2, line 629 to end; microtheme 2 due

                   Journal: What heroic qualities does Satan display?

             3    Paradise Lost, Book 3 to line 371, Book 4 to line 408

       Journal: How does Milton defend God from responsibility from sin even though he knew that Adam and Eve would fall before it happened?

            8    Paradise Lost, Books 9; Lanyer, Eve's Apology in Defense of Women (from SalveDeus Rex Judaeorum, pp. 1285-87)

       Journal: Compare and contrast Milton’s and Lanyer’s views about the fall of Adam and Eve.

           10    Aphra Behn, Oroonoko to end of p. 2188

       Journal: Compare and contrast Oroonoko and Othello.

15   Oroonoko to end; thesis for final paper on topic of your choice (3-5 typed pages double-spaced)

       Journal: Is Oroonoko an Aristotlean tragic hero like Othello?

            17   Swift, A Modest Proposal;

       Journal: What are the clues that Swift is being satiric?  Whom is he satirizing?

            22   Pope, The Rape of the Lock; Pocket Manual, pp. 109-112, 118-22

       Journal: How is Pope using epic conventions?  Whom is he satirizing?

            24   Bring two copies of your final paper to class

            29   Pope, An Essay on Man

                   Journal: How does Pope “vindicate the ways of God to man”?

May      1    Paper due; review

             8    Final exam, 8-11 (bring blue book)